How Utility Companies are Re-thinking their CX

How Utility Companies are re-thinking their CX in their contact centres – Keith Gait, MBA CCXP at the Customer Experience Foundation, shares insights from their latest Utilities CX report.

The winter weather is worsening, with Britain’s storms being deemed strong enough to be given their own names, leaving thousands without water and power, and according to a study by Uswitch the number of Britons who experienced their internet connection failing for at least three hours has almost doubled in the last year!

Addressing these distressing situations underscores the importance of promptly resolving the issue and maintaining transparent communication with affected customers throughout the entire resolution process.

CXFO recently produced a CX report following a round table event with leading Utility organisations and here are some insights.

Customer Priorities

“Customers expressed that having a reliable broadband connection held a higher significance than access to water”

When it comes to customer priorities, a striking revelation emerged centred on survey results, where customers expressed that having a reliable broadband connection held a higher significance than access to water. This surprising revelation underscores the transformative role that technology, particularly broadband services, plays in the contemporary landscape, with individuals valuing seamless connectivity as a vital component of their daily lives, especially as so many now work from home.

Is email outdated?

“The manpower and technology required to manage and secure email communication contribute to elevated operational costs for businesses”

With the proliferation – and rapid adoption – of various enterprise social networks such as Slack and Teams, is email still as relevant as it once was? Perhaps more importantly, is it even an efficient method of communication? Many said that they predict they will stop using email as a contact channel mainly due to concerns over cyber-attacks, fraud, and the considerably higher cost to serve.

Customer Effort Scores (CES)

“The significance of Customer Effort Scores (CES) and how for some brands this has overtaken traditional metrics like NPS and CSAT for many brands”

The conversation came round to the significance of Customer Effort Scores (CES) and how for some brands this has overtaken traditional metrics like NPS and CSAT for many brands. Recognising that customer loyalty and overall satisfaction are deeply intertwined with the ease and efficiency of their interactions, companies are increasingly prioritising the measurement of customer effort.

This shift in focus underscores a growing understanding that, in the contemporary business landscape, the ease with which customers can achieve their goals plays a pivotal role in shaping their perception and loyalty towards a brand. On this subject, many organisations have NPS and CSAT because they have to, but how can we enhance the results, or the data gleaned from surveys to create really in-depth customer personas? It is all about data segmentation and using it more efficiently.

Voice channels will remain

“You can’t replace human emotion and empathy for the more complex queries”

Replacing email with AI-driven solutions in contact centres and customer experience operations involves leveraging technology to enhance communication efficiency, personalisation, and problem resolution.

It’s essential to strike a balance between AI automation and human touch, ensuring that complex or emotionally sensitive issues are appropriately handled by human agents. Additionally, ongoing monitoring and refinement of AI systems are crucial to maintaining effectiveness and improving the overall customer experience. However, we still need to understand the appropriateness of AI.

While current AI models can analyse and respond to human emotions to some extent, achieving a true and deep understanding of emotions, along with the ability to express empathy authentically, remains a significant challenge.